1)Forty-seven prominent conservatives have signed an open letter warning the mainstream media against using data on hate groups compiled by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).The letter calls the SPLC a “discredited, left-wing political activist organization that seeks to silence its political opponents with a ‘hate group’ label of its own invention.”

2)Officials at Florida Power & Light’s two nuclear plants were finalizing staffing plans and cleaning up their grounds Wednesday, but no one at FPL had yet made the call on when to shut down as Hurricane Irma drew nearer.

3)Florida is bracing as Hurricane Irma, the strongest Atlantic hurricane ever recorded, is feared to hit Florida on Sunday. The hurricane “remains a dangerous and life-threatening Category 5” storm, Florida Gov. Rick Scott warned Wednesday night at a briefing. Forecast models have put the storm on a track to hit Florida over the weekend, but meteorologists have warned its path could change.

4) Those Americans who identify as white Christians are now considered to be a minority of the country’s population, according to a new survey. The number has dipped below 50 percent, a transformation fueled by immigration and by growing numbers of people who reject organized religion altogether, said a report released Wednesday by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI)